Austrian leader defends EU credentials in Brussels

By Alastair Macdonald and Robert-Jan Bartunek BRUSSELS, Dec 19 (Reuters) – Austria’s new chancellor travelled to Brussels on Tuesday on his first foreign trip since being sworn in, aiming to dispel concerns that his coalition with the far right spells trouble for the European Union. Responding to a letter on Monday from European Council President Donald Tusk that underlined EU worries, 31-year-old conservative leader Sebastian Kurz tweeted back that his new government would be “clear pro-European and committed to making a positive contribution to the future development of the EU”. A day after he took office at the head of a…